unpopulated

Unpopulated is an adjective describing a place that has no permanent residents or a population that is effectively zero. It is used in geographic, cartographic, and planning contexts to indicate areas where human habitation is absent or negligible.

In practice, unpopulated areas include deserts, remote mountains, isolated islands, protected or restricted lands, and regions that have experienced depopulation due to economic decline or disaster. The term emphasizes absence of population rather than absence of activity; a place may be unpopulated but still visited, used, or patrolled.

Unpopulated is sometimes contrasted with uninhabited (no people present at a given time) and sparsely populated (nonzero but very low population). Depopulated describes a substantial decline in population after previously being populated. Context may affect nuance: a country’s unpopulated frontier versus an unpopulated nature reserve may imply different governance or usage rights.

In data and mapping, unpopulated is used for areas with zero permanent residents, or for places not assigned population counts. The term is also found in environmental and conservation literature to delineate regions lacking residents for studies of wildlife or ecosystems.

See also: uninhabited; sparsely populated; depopulated; wilderness; population density.